Fireworksless 4th

For 2008's 4th of July, I wrote two posts: one about fireworks technology (as witnessed at the celebration outside Buckhead's Lenox Mall that evening) and one about previous interesting 4th of Julys. Well, this year was easily the least patriotic 4th I can remember having: for starters, I didn't see any fireworks as a spectator (either on TV or in person...the ones I did catch were only in passing while driving that evening), I didn't see my parents (or anyone else celebrating for that matter), and I didn't even really spend much time thinking about what the holiday means (at least, not the day of).

Instead, I DID go to Atlanta's big annual 10k, the Peachtree Road Race, that morning to meet up with Candace's mom and brother to see her run (she did very well), after which Candace's mom fixed us all some homemade pancakes. Then, I just went back to my apartment and chilled for the rest of the day before meeting up with Candace that evening to go out to dinner for her birthday (which is on the 5th) at this fusion Mexican place with really great food/margaritas but an empty dining area due to the holiday. After this we just chilled at her place and finished one of the Freddy movies.

Pretty boring, really. Sure, I thought a little about the meaning of the holiday, but honestly, unless I actively remind myself about Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, I usually get pretty frustrated trying to be proud of America...